OT Milli Hamster advise

[MaryEvelyn]

Rita wants a Hamster I have been reading up on how to take care of one but I am confused as to what is the best cage for them. Can you help me? We ahve one picked out at the shelter but I can't bring her home untill Saterday. She is a tan and white Teddy Bear. :D SHH Don't tell rita it is a suprise HE HE

[mrsdoubtfyre]

Here is a suggestion for some of the cutest hamster pictures, and stories if you love hamsters. You have to look around to find the other hamster ones, but since everything is so much fun, that is not a problem (at least for us)!;)

http://cuteoverload.com/
today's most recent pics are of baby bunnies! Scroll down and there are new
hamster pictures too on the first page.

My husband has become entranced with this site... some of you here
may love it too.

P.S. the hamsters are in the "pocket pet" category.

Here is an example.... I had to crop it a bit, to get it the right size to post:

Maybe that is a gerbil? Please forgive me if I am wrong...I am not an expert by any means on rodents!

Oh, I am totally into this page....you have to scroll down to The Krazy Ham wheel! It is very funny!

[milivica]

Cage - What I'd recommend is no cage wire, or as little as possible. They go to the one area of the cage with wire and bite it repeatedly allllllll night. They can get a sore on their nose or hurt their teeth (the grinding teeth in back of their mouths). The 'tong tong tong tong' sound of the wire being rhythmically bitten over and over will make "Sweet Dreams" by Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) or some other song play over and over in your head while you try to fall asleep. The cheapest route would be those plastic storage containers, although not space efficient they are very easy to clean and the cheapest roomiest home by far. We once used a 45 gallon. We have also used fish tanks connected by tubing - heavier and more cumbersome to clean but much nicer to view the hammy. This is our current home and has been my favorite so far http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/standard/January05/7622_42e3f.jpg I connect TWO between my son's very active hamster, my daughter's hamster's each have one with gobs and gobs of tubes and look outs all which I get from the humane society for a fraction of the cost. There is a metal cap with a pin hole in it on the water bottle included...I removed that, it gets crusted with hard water and can get blocked. For $20 it comes with a good wheel, so the price can't be beat. However it would be quite confining without a bunch of tubes to crawl in. You want to try and duplicate this http://www.siec.k12.in.us/west/proj/hamster/images/burrow.gif a bit. Here's another http://members.fortunecity.com/surfinkids/hammy2.jpg natural habitat condition.

Bedding - Never use cedar - most rodents react badly to the oils and the fumes. I don't like pine either, same reason although it is said to be ok. I use either shredded news paper, shredded paper toweling, or a combination of both - after all you only need enough for a hamster not an elephant. I also like to buy timothy hay, it smells so fresh and 'green' to me and I'm guessing to my pets too.

Wheel - gotta have a wheel!!! INVEST in the wheel. My fav is this http://www.exoticnutrition.com/SPINNER.jpg but they always wind up cracking and breaking at the axis in time cause they get so much use! I've heard good things about the Wodent Wheel http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/standard/i/inp0/inP036808_146e7.jpg The reason these are my picks is cause I feel like they are comfy to my hamsters' feet and cause they are QUIET. However, I currently use the wheel which came with the cage...which sounds like a machine gun when they really get running. You can remove it and put vasoline around the axis to stop the noise.

Diet - Along with commercial lab blocks and hamster food which is probably glorified bird seed, ours get a pieces of fruit and veggies daily. Banana, apple, mango, pear (not much citrus, too acidic) and dark green leafies, cucumber, green peppers, peas, carrots - some of those every day. They'll wait at the door for them if you do it the same time daily! Not apple seeds or avocado, I hear they can be toxic to them. Also seeds and nuts if the hammie isn't chubby (hard to tell with all the fur, but see how tight she fits in her tubes...if she gets stuck, lay off the seeds and nuts.

So, roomy cage with lotsa tubes and no wiring especially on the floor. Shredded toweling and newspapers for bedding, timothy hay is nice too. You're getting a female, she will come into cycle every 4 days thus have real stinky pee every 4 days - best to notice where her 'pee spot' is and remove that area of bedding than clean the whole cage. Waaaaay easier.

Good luck and have so much fun with the hammie! It's lovely you're getting her from humane society. As soon as she learns hands=good (treats) there should be no problem with biting if even there is at first. Let me know if you have any behavioral or dietary or any other questions! I love to try and help.

[milivica]

Mrs. D., that pic is too cute.

[MaryEvelyn]

We picked her up today!! Her name is Princess and she loves her wheel and she loves her potty :eek: LOL She is using it like a dust bath :rolleyes: She is tri collerd like a calico Black, White, and Tan.

[milivica]

OMG that has got to be hysterical!!! If you can post a pic of her taking her 'bath' please please do!

Princess, what a great name for a girl hammy. How did your daughter react? Did she go crazy happy - jump laugh clap, make promises about how she'll never ask for anything again (lol) and tell you you're the greatest mom ever.

Enjoy your new girl, sounds like she's already having a ball (or a bath!) living with you guys! Say, if she really loves to kick up the dust, I know there's chinchilla dust for them to bathe in, see if it works for hammies??? I've made mine small dirt and sand boxes using those small plastic containers in the pet shops with grated plastic lids...but the hammies lost interest. Maybe yours her natural digging instincts well in tact!

Have tons of fun,
Mili

[MaryEvelyn]

We got her a hamster bath from Petsmart and the hamster dust but haven’t tried it yet. Rita put her in her Ball for a short period today and they had so much fun she wants to enter her in a hamster race they are having at Pet Co on the 30th. She is 5 weeks old and the result of a large litter the owners did not want. Rita went crazy she screamed, jumped, and vowed to clean the cage everyday LOL When she finally went to sleep she was out like a light.

[milivica]

Awww that sounds so nice. Five weeks is a perfect time to get a hammie! They've just been weened, mama would have started kicking them out in another week or two, and they are still too young (by a week) to get preggers.

That's really awesome, and I never thought of getting that dust for mine, I should try it sounds fun!

Have lots and lots of fun with your new Princess.

[mrsdoubtfyre]

some very cute and funny videos and pictures of hamsters on
that website above. One long one has a very cool vid of several hamsters
trying to share a wheel.

They are mostly under "pocket pets" but some of the pics are on the
main page. We look at that site almost every day, and never fail to laugh,
or be moved! ;)

[GinaMarie]

I used to have hamsters when I was LOTS younger.. My cousin gave me Romeo and Juliet.. Tho they didnt commit suicide. lol they got married. ;) and had 14 yes FOURTEEN babies... tho Juliet couldnt handle all those and I freaked out cause she started eating some alive!!! :eek: I called the vet and they told me thats what they do when they know they are sick or they cant take care of them all...

You do have to be careful of hamsters tho. Their teeth are sooooooo long they can actually bite all the way to the bone of your fingers. I wont give my boys hamsters because cause they are careful enough or responsible enough. They do have 2 mice and we have had guinea pigs because guinea pigs are HUGE hamsters but LOTS more easier to handle (sometimes lol). The plastic cages are fun to build. Its fun to watch the hamsters stuff thier cheeks full then they go to another corner and dump it all out.

SOunds like she is going to have a ball with Princess. :) I loved my pets..

I have my hands full now with 2 cats, a 20 yr old cockatiel, 2 mice and now taking care of my dads 12 week old golden retriever puppy. lol I actually have a food chain. lol

Gina Marie

[MaryEvelyn]

She was able to feed her by hand today :D When Rita first gets up for school she is awake and wants to play so I had her give her a treet and than we put her in her ball. She was all over the house with Rita right behind, you have never herd so much laughing LOL :D

[frogmama]

Just remeber not to leave Princess in the ball overnight... as someone's :rolleyes: child did, all we found the next day was fur and happy cats... Poor Cheeto. With ours I found large glass fish tanks to work the best, with wire mesh covers for ventilation and lots of tubes that can be rearranged when they get bored. Do hamsters get bored? or are their memories so short every new day is a surprise?